I'm delighted with these informal royal gettogethers, especially between primary royals of the future. It also delight me to see the Luxemburgs there as well.

It's good that they strengthen their personal bonds and perhaps establish close bonds between their children as well. That will be useful in the future.
Even though they may not talk work as such as this meeting, they will nevertheless exchange experiences and ideas and that can only be beneficial.
Unfortunately not all royals of that generation form such bonds and that I believe is a pity.

Imo it's great that the children are able to meet on such meetings, get to know each other and of course have some fun. That's why I find it sad that the Dutch, Belgian, and Spanish families were not there. But I guess that's the rules: if you ascend to the throne, your out of the club.

Imo it's great that the children are able to meet on such meetings, get to know each other and of course have some fun. That's why I find it sad that the Dutch, Belgian, and Spanish families were not there. But I guess that's the rules: if you ascend to the throne, your out of the club.

Reasonable rules, but still a pity, IMO. Especially for the kids. I think it's a great idea that the royal kids could have a weekend every year when they get to know each other and (perhaps later on) could talk about their roles, challenges and duties. I think that the dutch/belgian/spanish children could find that even more useful now that their parents are king/queen. Maybe they have other forums for that? I hope so.

What a fantastic photo! I love seeing different royals together, and it's particularly nice that the children were at this year's heir gathering too. Cute to see Ingrid Alexandra in between Christian and Isabella. It would've been nice to see Estelle with the Danish twins but I'm still delighted with what we got.

Whilst it would've been nice to see Charles and Camilla there, I agree with carlota that they are of an older generation so perhaps they thought they wouldn't fit in as much with the other heirs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdm

Nice picture of the crown princely club.

Maybe the new monarchs club have a weekend of their own.

That would be great. I hope that one of the new monarchs is reading this thread! And it would be nice to include their children too.

__________________"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone". Audrey Hepburn

*"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy". Anne Frank

As I said on another page, it amazes me how they know she will be sick in advance. Almost as miraculous as how she had a fear of flying so couldn't go places...apart from to spa retreats and shopping trips.

What is her problem? What do we know about her medical condition(s)? Has the NRF gone out and addressed the issue? Like talking about whatever it is that is wrong and explaining that she may have to only be going at half speed for an extended period?
What's the word on the streets in Norway?

Could she turn it into something productive? Presuming she isn't the only one in Norway with her condition?
And fear of flying is becoming a genuine handicap in today's world, having overcome that couldn't she put focus on such a topic and help and support others?

mette marit is certainly the royal with most sicknesses and illnesses up to date without a doubt. it's rather strange how she keeps getting some illness, falling, hurting herself...

this blog has a list of all her illnesses that were published by the court because she was missing some kind of official function:

Quote:

February 2002:
Mette-Marit got the flu during the Olympics in Salt Lake City. After a week home, the flu had expanded into pneumonia. She was admitted to the National Hospital for treatment. She was on sick leave for two weeks after her return home. A trip to Mozambique that had been on the agenda was postponed.

March 2002:
Mette-Marit fell during the Easter holiday in Sikkilsdalen, and broke her ankle. It led to little skiing during the family Easter break, but also lead to a six week sick leave with limited official representation. She did show up to some official events with her crutches.

May 2002:
In May 2002, she got massively burnt during an interview with a German television channel. The production company had set up lights that led to both the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess receiving burns. Mette-Marit fared the worst, and also had burns on her corneas.

Mette-Marit’s burns were so bad that the doctors at the National Hospital had only seen similar (or worse) twice in the past 20 years, and then when with use of old solariums.

Mette-Marit stayed at home, while Haakon travelled on the planned visit to Germany on his own. She made the balcony on May 17 for the annual appearance on National Day, but the burns were very visible.

October 2003
The Crown Princess had influenza and couldn’t participate in the Palace dinner.

December 2004
Mette-Marit had the Norovirus, and had to cancel her attendance at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

August-September-October 2005
Mette-Marit had a difficult pregnancy with Sverre-Magnus, leading to several cancellations due to low blood pressure. Most notably she didn’t attend the official visit to Sweden around the centenary celebrations.

September 2007
Haakon had to step in at a conference as a substitute for a sick Mette-Marit

January 2008
An official trip to Chile was on the programme, but Haakon had to travel alone. Mette-Marit was down with the Norovirus. Haakon admitted that it might have been he who had been the contagion, since he’d had similar issues just before. It was also stated that with two kids in kindergarten and one in school, it was nearly impossible to avoid minor isssues like this.

October 2008
Fell and hit her head during a visit to Ukraine as a special emissary for UNAIDS. She ended up with a minor concussion, and the doctor who treated her in Kiev forbade a continuation of the official programme.

It was after this incident that her worn discs in the neck were revealed.

February 2010
The Crown Princess was prescribed rest for 3 weeks, due to injuries to her worn discs in the neck. It lead to her non-attendance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

October 2011
Mette-Marit had to postpone a visit to Melhus due to illness. She later fulfilled the goal of the trip.

November 2012
Due to the flu, she had to cancel her attendance at the Virke conference.

December 2012
Because of illness, Mette-Marit had to withdraw from the taping of a children’s Christmas television special. Ingrid Alexandra brought her Dad instead.

It also lead to a non-attendance at the Christmas concert at the Palace.

October 2013
Sick leave for herniated disc. Resulted in surgery in November.

apart from those, there's the two issues she had this year (ill with the flu in march and this time), and also some problem she had when she went or before she visited india privately.

Great round up.
There are also other incidents where you would expect the Crown Princess to attend and she just did not. Of course they do not have to give an explanation every single time, but it adds up to a very light agenda.
Just last week, There was a breakfast for Innovation week, Haakon went alone even though they were both listed. She did make it to the gala some days later.

And of course people cant control getting sick but add on that her holidays abroad and shopping trips abroad never seem to be interrupted and it gives off a bad image.

And the odd flu from a coughing child and shaking hands with countless people must be hard to avoid as well.
Presuming the list posted by Carlota isn't complete I'd say two weeks a year down with flu or a nasty cold isn't uncommon when your children are small.

What I find more interesting, or alarming if you will, is that she calls in sick several weeks in advance! That is pretty unusual IMO for something that isn't more serious than announced publicly.

Anyway, how about Haakon, he is being subjected to the same conditions and sick children as M-M. Does he also have a history of cancelling an unusual number of engagements?

If not then perhaps:
A) M-M has a weak or weakened immune system.
B) Has become more fussy when she is ill. Considering the accidents she's had that's perhaps somewhat understandable.
C) She's doing a half Masako. I.e. psychological issues.
D) Her general health is worse than what is publicly known.
E) Something else...

I see that she had pneumonia in the past and I can tell you (as someone who has also had it) that it tends to make you more susceptible to respiratory ailments in the future. I have asthma and allergies also, so fall and winter are very hard months on me. I'm constantly fighting sniffles or a bug. And if you actually catch a respiratory infection, it can take weeks for it to finally leave your system.

I'm not defending the crown princess as I do think it's odd, but I can understand the doctor's concerns. If she's fighting something now, then gets on a plane (in a very dry environment, which is awful for your bronchial tubes), and then have several non-stop days, your immune system could be hit very hard for weeks to come. I think she is just one of those people who have bad luck with their health.

i don't doubt some of her illnesses are true, and one cannot avoid getting the flu every now and again, but i agree with mulher that it is strange that they announce her illnesses so much time ahead, and with polyesco that it reflects bad on her image, particularly since she's seen travelling abroad for pleasure quite often and her official agenda is quite sparse, despite being a crown princess and future queen.

I think it's starting to look bad for her cancelling all the time , if she hadn't been ill so much this yearshe would have still have had a light work load compared to other crown princess ..... ( Mary ) ... But she still is my favourite .... Just a shame that's all